It Was the Best of Actions, It Was the Worst of Actions

I’m fascinated by the comparison between this
account of the story of Lazarus and this
one. Here’s a taste of each. First, from John Piper:

Look again at the connection
between verse 5 and 6: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and
Lazarus. Therefore [because of this love], when he heard that
Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” He did
not hurry to his side….

[Jesus] said in verse 4: “This
illness does not lead to death [in other words, the point is not death]. It is
for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” This
illness will turn out for the glory of God, and the glory of the Son of God…. Therefore
(verse 6) love lets him die. Love lets him die because his death will help them
see, in more ways than they know, the glory of God.

So what is love? What does it mean
to be loved by Jesus? Love means giving us what we need most. And what we need
most is not healing, but a full and endless experience of the glory of God.
Love means giving us what will bring us the fullest and longest joy. And what
is that? What will give you full and eternal joy? The answer of this text is
clear: a revelation to your soul of the glory of God—seeing and admiring and
marveling at and savoring the glory [of] God in Jesus Christ.

Now, from J.M. Green:

Perhaps Jesus had some remorse over
his heartless actions, but personally, I’m not buying the whole thing about him
being deeply moved and troubled. Looks suspiciously like alligator tears.
Remember, this is the guy who in a very calculated manner used Lazarus as a
pawn in his exercise in self-promotion. This Jesus character in the gospel
stories could easily have arrived in time to prevent the death of his friend.
There would have been no need for Lazarus to have experienced the agony of
dying. No reason for his sisters to suffer the grief of losing their
brother.

But he didn’t.

Why? Quite simply because he wanted to impress people. He wanted to glorify
himself and Yahweh. The suffering and death of Lazarus was useful to furthering
their agenda. While this sort of behavior might be expected of a North Korean
dictator, it is quite nauseating to see it venerated in a religion.

When you read about God’s ‘glory’, understand that we are talking about his
ego. The god of the Bible likes to look good. He wants people to be impressed
with him. Apparently his self-esteem needs frequent propping up. Of course,
Christians have tried to put some noble, spiritual sheen on God’s need for
glory. They’ve framed it in their minds as something admirable, when in
actuality it’s despicable and pathetic.

Both agree that Jesus deliberately did not heal Lazarus
before his death. Both agree that the purpose of this was to reveal God’s
glory. So what makes the difference between the two accounts? Their ability to
see God. The
biggest gulf between Christians and atheists like Green is not the question
of God’s existence, but the apprehension of His beauty and goodness. Our
understanding of this passage depends on whether or not we see God as truly being
worthy of all glory. No fallen human being is worthy—not even the best one, so
any attempt to evaluate God by imagining what we would think of a flawed human
(such as a dictator) who acted as if he
were in God’s place will of course elicit revulsion when one talks of glory
and praise. But if God is truly and uniquely flawless in goodness, love, power,
and in every other possible way, then to participate in the joy
of praising Him is a morally right, beautiful, and fulfilling thing to do.

So why do we see Him so differently?

There’s a reason why Jesus said, “No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (Jn 6:44). Our morally broken hearts
are dead set against Him from the beginning. We’re “by nature children of
wrath” (Eph 2:3). We’re His enemies (Rom 5:10). The “sweet aroma of the
knowledge of [Christ]” is “an aroma from death to death” among “those who are
perishing” (2 Cor 2:14-16). On our own, “a natural man does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot
understand them” (1 Cor 2:14). We shouldn’t be surprised Green sees God the way
he does, we should expect it. The true surprise is that we don’t see Him that way.

Here’s the point: The fact that anyone is able to say "Amen!" to Piper's quote is due entirely to a miracle. It’s only because “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us
alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:4-5). There is no other reason. We’re not
better. We’re not smarter. We don’t deserve it. It’s God’s love and grace that
snatched us out of our rebellion, so treat your atheist neighbors with the
humility this
truth demands. Remember what it was like to be blind so that you don’t
despise the blind. Don’t forget that apologetics—explaining the reality of God
to others—is, at root, a supernatural endeavor, and pray accordingly.